Count Your Blessings

Firstly, can I commend our prayer meetings to you again? They are not just powerful moments when we cast our cares on God in exchange for His joy and peace. They are also a time of great refreshing, encouragement and spiritual awakening. On top of that, God speaks to us. So, whether it’s Mondays at 7am, Tuesdays at 7pm, Saturdays at 9:30am or Sunday at 9:45am, these are precious moments and I’d like you to decide to attend at least one of these meetings every week. Your life will be the better for it.

This Monday as we were praying, we were reminded of the lyrics of a famous song: “Count your blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord as done”. Sadly, we often concentrate on the things we lack, the things we want and completely forget the things we have. This attitude makes us present as ‘needy’ people instead of being grateful people.

A few weeks back, Steve spoke about the ten lepers Jesus healed. Of the ten, only one came back to thank Jesus (Luke 17:11-19). We must be like the one, not the nine. It is possible for the nine to be grateful in their hearts without coming back to thank Jesus. However, it’s clear that Jesus expected all of them to “return to give praise to God” (Luke 17:18).

In almost all his epistles, Paul showed us an example of thankfulness. He often starts by thanking God for what He has done and what He is doing in the lives of the recipients of his letters:

He thanked God that the faith of the Roman church is being reported all over the world (Rom. 1:8).
He thanked God for the grace, riches and knowledge and spiritual gifts given to the Corinthian Church (1 Cor. 1:4-7).
In Ephesus, Paul thanked God for their faith and love for all God’s people (Eph. 1:15).
In Philippi, he thanks God for their partnership in the gospel (Phil. 1:5).
And in Thessaloniki he was grateful to God for faith, love and hope in Christ.

It’s easier to be grateful when everything is fine and good. Paul was not grateful because he had an easy life - In fact the opposite is true. As he recounted, “been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times shipwrecked” (1 Cor. 11:23-25). In spite of all these, he says: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4).

How can we develop a thankful heart? It is by focusing on Jesus and not our problems. When we focus on our problems, it makes us lose sight of Jesus and what He has done for us. When we focus on Him, we are lifted beyond ourselves, reminded of his goodness and faithfulness, then we see Him in the fullness of His glory.

When we stop to contemplate the goodness of God to us, we’ll discover that our hearts will be filled with gratitude for all that He has done. So, for the rest of this week, let’s contemplate the goodness of God and thank him for all He brings to mind. Let’s be a church full of gratitude for what God has done, what He is doing and what He will yet do. Count your blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord as done.